MPs squeal after losing perks and expenses slashed

Wednesday 28 October 2009 07:30 BST

MPs of all parties were in uproar this evening as they saw their expenses being cut to ribbons.

The £60,000 payoffs for outgoing MPs is to be reduced to £10,000. Second home claims, hotel stays and jobs for MPs' wives and children are all on the hit list. The Standard was told that even first-class air and rail travel, a cherished perk, may be facing the axe.

There was anger and anguish at Westminster over the leaked details from a report by standards watchdog Sir Christopher Kelly.

London and South-East MPs reacted particularly furiously. At least 48 MPs in the capital will lose some £3,250 with a halving of the London salary supplement.

Another proposal, branded "idiotic" and "woolly", is to ban £24,000 second home expenses for people living within 60 minutes by train from Westminster.

Mr Brown told MPs this afternoon: "I think all Members of Parliament want to bring the old discredited system of expenses to an end and they want to bring in as quickly as possible a new system of expenses."

The Prime Minister said Sir Christopher's report will be published next Wednesday and then he expected the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority "to be given the power to implement it in detail".

That comment ruled out an early vote for MPs on the proposals. But Mr Brown then appeared to contradict himself by adding: "That is a matter for the House."

The Prime Minister's stance put him on a collision course with backbenchers demanding a vote on reforms. But an unrepentant No10 source said MPs must lump it: "This is what the PM meant when he said he would end self-regulation by MPs and end the 'gentlemen's club' at Westminster. It is tough but necessary."

One of the most senior MPs, Sir Stuart Bell, warned that it would be "totally unacceptable" to have South-East and outer London MPs forced to commute in the middle of the night - a real possibility if their second homes were stripped away.

He predicted that MPs would "baulk" at being forced to sack wives who are long-serving secretaries.

Currently, only central London MPs are excluded from claiming for a second home, but under the Kelly proposals any MP with a constituency in "reasonable commuting distance" of Westminster will have to meet their own accommodation costs.

MPs claimed the Kelly changes are so dramatic that they will have to be put to a vote at some stage.

No 10 sources said practical problems raised by some MPs would be for the authority to consider.

Exactly how the proposals would work is unknown as only a few details have leaked out. Former Tory minister Christopher Chope urged the report be made public immediately to put MPs out of their misery.

The reforms would be phased in over five years in order to enable sitting MPs to adjust to the new arrangements without losing heavily on property sales. One senior source said: "If there is five years to wait, that would be OK with most of us." Labour's Tony Wright said MPs should "bite the bullet" in order to win back public trust. Labour MP John Mann agreed that MPs should give in, however much they disliked the reforms.

Three who could lose out

Andrew Dismore

Among dozens of MPs who will lose out with the £7,500 London supplementary allowance being slashed by half. The Hendon MP said: "At the moment all we know is what has been leaked and it is impossible to comment properly without knowing the rationale."

Roger Gale

Roger Gale, the MP for North Thanet, is furious that he will have to stop employing his wife Suzy as secretary.

"The man who is held up to be the custodian of standards might have done us the courtesy of letting us read the report before it was leaked to the Press," he said.

Humfrey Malins

One of the South-East MPs who may be barred from claiming second home expenses. The Woking MP could travel into Waterloo on a train in less than an hour although the entire journey from his door to the Commons might take more than an hour, especially late at night.